Garvin Karunaratne former Government Agent, Matara (Posted on November 17th, 2013; reprinted for kind consideration  a decade later) A Spectacular Phenomenon Last week I went to Iceland, in search of the Northern Lights, a mysterious phenomenon – coloured shades of light in the sky taking various forms, at times even sequencing a dance.‚  Every tourist […]

by Garvin Karunaratne When we became independent in 1948, we- the colonies were the market for everything produced in the UK. With independence, we had to change to enable development, production in industry and agriculture and foremost to alleviate poverty. We had commenced Land Development, Irrigation, and Agriculture. To enable people to be trained, we […]

by Garvin Karunaratne Sri Lanka, a sovereign country that did not owe a penny to anyone in 1977 has built up a foreign debt by following the dictates of the International Monetary Fund since 1977. In September 2022 the foreign debt was at $ 47.7 billion and by September 2024 the foreign debt was stated […]

by Dr Garvin Karunaratne I enclose my earlier Paper,  posted in Lanka Web  two years ago(11/3/2022), re edited in the hope that its recommendations to build up our economy will be heard in the portals of our new saviour President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. This Paper contains a blue print for immediate action to build up […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It all happened in the Bangladesh Secretariat, three days after General Ershard took over the country in a bloodless coup on the 24 th of March 1982. The Minister for Youth Development was clamped in prison and the work of the Ministry was in jeopardy. The third in command, Air Vice Marshall […]

by Garvin Karunaratne In Bangladesh when the new Military Government of General Ershard took over the country in 1982, the Ministry of Youth Development was providing skills training to 40,000 youths annually but the vast majority of them failed to find employment and continued to be unemployed, scrapping the barrel, 33 for life. I happened to […]

by Garvin Karunaratne On many an occasion on my never ending irrigation inspections in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya long ago I had to cling onto trees and, creepers to avoid being blown off by the power of the wind. I enclose what I once wrote hoping that our new Government of Anura Kumara Dissanayake will […]

by Garvin Karunaratne I recall my days in Anuradhapura in the early 1960s, tackling minor irrigation as an Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services in charge of the subject. The subject of irrigation works, both the major tanks- over 200 acres done by the Irrigation Department and the minor tanks under nobody at the moment, required immediate attention. All […]

by Garvin Karunaratne The Background Sri Lanka is facing a severe recession . During the reign when Ranil Wickremasinghe ruled as the President from mid 2022 to November 2024, with the majority in Parliament supporting him the foreign debt ballooned from $ 56 billion in 2022 to as much as $ 100 billion when the […]

by Garvin Karunaratne I write in support of MP Mr Tilvin Silva’s, idea that Provincial Councils should be abolished(FTLK:4/12) I enclose  my opinion  as an administrator why the Provincial Councils imposed on us by an outsider, Rajiv Gandhi,  should be abolished. Why the 13 th Amendment is inimical for our development and how it will […]

by Garvin Karunaratne  A Statement by Advisor Duminda Hulangamuva tells that our President Anura Kumara Dissanayake  has decided  to delay the implementation of the IMF’s decision that Imputed Taxes should be taxed. (EN: 2/12/24) Our President has to be congratulated for this decision. This is a minor decision but it is important to note that […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara In view of the new leash of life Sri Lanka has just got with the election of a President of Sri Lanka avowed to bring about poverty alleviation, I beg to make some suggestions based on my real experience. On my recent travel to Snowdonia in Wales, I happened […]

Garvin Karunaratne, PhD Michigan State University formerly of the SLAS, G.A.Matara It is reported that the IMF  has approved  the third review of Sri Lanka’s Economic Reform Programme. (AdaDerana:23/11/24) It is hoped that what is approved will enable the development of the country in  terms of increasing production in agriculture and also bringing about employment […]

by Garvin Karunaratne E-Con-E-News 3-9 th November in Lanka Web writes: “• ‘Garvin Karunaratne writes again today. I have read his Dahanayaka & red-onion affair several times in the Island. His telephone handling at the Marketing Department’s Tripoli HQ resembles Mountbatten’s war operations room.’” We did use phones in a remarkable way to move veg […]

Garvin Karunaratne  The High Commissioner for Sri Lanka from the UK has told us to to look to the UK for emulation re corruption. Perhaps our High C ommissioner is not aware of the fanciful gifts collected by Prime Minister Starmer and his wife recently.  https://www.adaderana.lk/news/103220/british-hc-recommends-sri-lankan-mps-learn-from-uk-system-to-curb-corruption- What a shame Garvin Karunaratne Additional information by Lanakweb […]

By Garvin Karunaratne , former G.A.Matara This is one of my early papers published four years ago. It is hoped that the new Government may find interesting ideas to follow to enable Sri Lanka’s economy to develop. A Story from Coffee. Ideas for our economic revival. Posted on September 14th, 2020. Republished in November 2024 […]

by Garvin Karunaratne The Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing(Marketing Department) My desk at Tripoli Market had three telephones. Tripoli Market was a very large hanger, perhaps the largest hanger fixed by the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, taken over by the Marketing Department where the headquarters of the vegetable and fruit […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University Posted on February 11th, 2022 One of my earlier papers which is appropriate for the moment- Garvin Karunaratne The Editorial of The Island tells it all: The challenge before us is to retrace our steps, figure out where we took wrong turns, and forge ahead in the right direction as […]

By Garvin Karunaratne former GA Matara, It is sad that the IMF, one of the two premier organizations created by the United Nations to enable financial stability did attend to the ignominious task of implementing the Structural Adjustment Programme from the Seventies, which did really cause all countries that sought financial assistance to become overly […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Former SLAS, G.A Matara The Small Industries Textile Manufacturing Programme This began with handloom training provided in village areas. Textile Handloom Programmes were commenced all over the island from the early Fifties and the Small Industries Department imported yarn and sold them to the entrepreneurs at cost. The Department of Small Industries employed […]

by Garvin Karunaratne I enclose a comment from ee.com on the Divisional Development Councils Programme  If done- it can be implemented in days- it will train the young unemployed to become productive and also produce what the country needs. • B2. The Divisional Development Councils Program of PM Sirimavo (2009, excerpts) – Garvin Karunaratne The experience […]

By Garvin Karunaratne I enclose a write up by eesrilanka wordpress.com/2019/04/13/playing with history: on some of my writings. __________________________________________________________ C2. Buying Power from Multinationals Garvin Karunaratne recalls his experience of 18 years working in stations like Hambantota as well as in the hilly Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. He chides the authorities for erecting wind turbines […]

Garvin Karunaratne  Former GA Matara  The experience of the Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) of Sri Lanka(1970-1977) is currently of great importance in today’s situation of unemployment and also the inability to import goods due to the lack of foreign exchange.   This is because the DDCP is a programme that really creates employment. Further it is […]

by Garvin Karunaratne

By Garvin Karunaratne former GA Matara In 1978, Sri Lanka had a foreign debt of only $ 750 million and that was on projects where at the end there would be an income that would be more than what was borrowed. Sri Lanka never begged before President Jayawardena and Ronnie de Mel came to be […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Administrative Service of Sri Lanka 1955 to 1973 Ph D, Michigan State University Sri Lanka is a sovereign country and we were sovereign till we were conquered by the British in 1815. We were also sovereign  from 1948 to 1977, when President Jayawardena submitted to implement the Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF […]

Garvin Karunaratne Mere talk is not what is required in Sri Lanka’s situation of today- massive unemployment and lack of incomes- poverty for the people at large- the vast majority who cannot today be assured of even two meals a day. It is on record that children are not even going to school- they are […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It may be a good idea for all contenders to become our President to understand that Sri Lanka is today a highly indebted country. When President Gotabhaya ceded the reigns of administration our foreign debt was at $ 56 billion.  Now in 2024 it is almost double. The Sunday Times of 9/6/24 […]

By Garvin Karunaratne  Professor Paul Krugman said in 1999 , in the short run. The World is lurching from crisis to crisis, all of them crucially involving the problem of generating sufficient demand. Japan is finding that  conventional monetary and fiscal policies  aren’t enough.  If it can happen to Japan how sure can we be […]

Garvin Karunaratne It is sad to reflect that DIG Munidasa (Muni) is no more.  As a relative of mine he was very close to us and very helpful on many an occasion. Muni hails from a family group  from Pilane, Galle, that has greatly contributed to Mother Lanka- he as a senior officer in the […]